Signature Audio 40

The groundbreaking Signature Audio 40 analogue audio interconnect celebrates QED's 40 years at the forefront of British designed audio cables.

Signature Audio 40 is an entirely new design concept from QED laboratories. The cordage is designed primarily for low capacitance as this has been identified by QED as a significant factor leading to a high-fidelity experience and makes for a tight sound retaining the rhythm of the original piece. Add Chord’s Complementary Conductor Technology™ for high frequency detail and their Analoc2™ technology to maximise signal integrity and the result is what Chord feels to be the most innovative interconnect ever made by QED. Please see Chord’s 'cables matter' section below for more in-depth information on this groundbreaking design.

Complementary Conductor TechnologyTM
This innovation utilises two conductors of different diameters to carry the same audio signal. This has the effect of providing an alternative path for high frequency audio components which might otherwise become time smeared in a single audio pathway.

Teflon dielectric
This material with its low dielectric constant has been used to cut down on the amount of audio signal energy lost due to cable capacitance.

Cryogenic treatment
It is understood that cryogenic treatment results in the elimination of dislocations and fractures in the material's micro-structure. Trumpets and other brass instruments have been found to produce a better tone after Deep Cryogenic Treatment (below -190 °C, -310 °F) and it also extends their working life. Chord’s extensive listening tests have shown that the cryogenically treated cable is preferred over the same cable without the treatment.

All-new Analoc2™ connector design
The Analoc2™ design still features low bulk, high purity copper connectors alongside low mass metal barrels, but now cleverly substitutes high rigidity thermoplastic material for both the inner support structure and the cable strain relief to eliminate the detrimental effects of eddy currents. Although already smaller than in traditional bulk brass plugs, these unfavourable currents were still able to circulate weakly in the isolated metal body of the previous plug design. Now with the new material in place, these remnant resonant distortions are completely prevented from adversely affecting the information contained in the audio signal as it travels through the new plug.

To complete the RCA plug’s Analoc2™ upgrade and to help combat the skin effect, the hollow, rhodium-plated, high-purity copper signal-pins are retained, while the effectiveness of the slip ring which locks in place the similarly plated, pure copper ground-terminal as the barrels are tightened, has also been improved.